Matt Shankle, chef-manager at Nomad, plates a Trenton Tomato Pie – a thin-crust pizza with mozzarella on the bottom, red sauce on top, with garlic, red pepper, oregano and basil. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Nomad pizzeria in Brunswick announced on social media Thursday that it will close later this month, after a little more than two years in business.

“The time has come as of Sunday, Nov. 24th, 2024 for Nomad’s flames to be lit one last time,” the Instagram post reads in part for Nomad, located at 14 Main St. in the Fort Andross Mill.

“I just decided it was time to retire,” owner Tom Grim said in a phone interview. “I just turned 73, and I’ve been in the food business since I was 14 years old. It was time to take a little time off and do some traveling. We’re going out on top, we’ve never been busier.

“My doctor tells me my heart should have less stress, and the restaurant business is nothing but stressful,” Grim added. “And Jeremy (Kratzer, Dutchman’s Wood-Fired Bagels co-owner) came forward with an offer to take over the space, so I decided it was a good time to go.”

Dutchman’s Wood-Fired Bagels, which occupies a 15-seat café space inside Nomad, announced on social media Friday that it will be taking over the space. Kratzer and his wife, Marina, expect to launch a new restaurant in the Nomad space in early 2025.

“My wife and I are really looking to showcase what our vision of hospitality is, and provide the community with an incredible bar program, and thoughtful, well-executed food that utilizes the wood-fired oven to a certain degree,” said Kratzer, who already uses Nomad’s wood-fired oven to bake his bagels.

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Kratzer said the new restaurant will be “focused on the food that we loved eating before we left New Jersey, and what brings everybody together,” adding that he expects to have more details on their plans in December. Kratzer had previously worked for Grim at Nomad in Maine and New Jersey.

Dutchman’s will continue to operate where it is, using adjacent event space for overflow seating and booking more special events for the venue. Kratzer said the bagel shop will also soon be open Tuesdays and Wednesdays, in addition to Thursday through Sunday.

Known for well-crafted wood-fired pizzas and New Jersey specialties like a Trenton tomato pie, Nomad opened in the former Frontier restaurant space in October 2022. Nomad originated in New Jersey, where it still has two locations. Grim previously sold those restaurants to his partner there and opened Nomad in Brunswick, planning eventually to retire in Maine so he could be close to his grandchildren.

Grim’s son, Aaron, and daughter-in-law, Briis, own Cosmic Goat Farm & Creamery in Litchfield, while his other son, Nicholas, and daughter-in-law, Noelle, opened Nomad Pasta Co. in Belfast.

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